Tag: history

While traveling on the subway the other day, I overheard an interesting conversation between two strangers. “Actually,” one person began grumbling, “They don’t know when he was born. I mean, if Christ was so important, you’d think we’d at least know his birthday!” A second person responded with similar cynicism: “And plus, Christmas came from a pagan…

The end of September marks the start of a somewhat quieter time, liturgically speaking. The next of the major feast days isn’t until 21 November (Presentation of the Theotokos) and there are no major fast periods until that of Nativity, starting on 15 November. Don’t get me wrong, there’s lots of good stuff happening in the Church between…

On September 23rd, we commemorate the conception of St. John the Baptist, who paved the way for Christ’s message of salvation. In Orthodox circles, he’s often called the Forerunner, i.e. the precursor, to Christ. Although St. John is a pretty big deal, his conception is prone to falling off our annual radar—it’s not preceded by a fast, it’s not…

As I announced earlier, today marks the beginning of a new series within Time Eternal that focuses on the liturgical year. Welcome to “A Year in Time”! And welcome to a New (ecclesiastical) Year! On September 1st, we also enter into a new ecclesiastical year in the Orthodox Church–a fitting “time” to start thinking anew about time and…